Black Girl Spotlight: Beautiful Black Ballerina from Africa pirouettes her
way to stardom.

I had
the great fortune to catch an ABC New special tonight profiling Michaela
DePrince. She is a ballerina from Africa who has been grabbing attention in many
different arenas.

For
example, Michaela was recently featured on ABC’s popular Dancing with the Stars
show. She is also one of the stars of a brand new documentary entitled “First Position,”
which charts her journey to stardom in the world of ballet via the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater in New York City.

Despite
being a very talented black ballerina, Michaela has had to suffer through many
challenges on her way to this ABC special, documentary and Dancing with the
Stars.

Her
parents were shot in war-torn Sierra Leone. She was called a “Devil Child” by
her peers when living at an orphanage in Africa. Her vitiligo (a condition that
makes dark skin appear to have white blotches) caused her to stand out from the
rest of the children.

By chance,
a family from Cherry Hill, PA adopted her along with another African girl and
brought her over to a better life in America where she decided to pursue her
career as a ballerina. Her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, witnessed
first-hand the prejudices that her daughter had to endure as a black ballet
star —attendees at ballet events made comments in her presence, saying that a
black girl wouldn’t be able to get on her tippy toes and command a show like
the other girls.

And of
course Michaela has proven the naysayers wrong. In addition to her television
and movie appearances, she is now a student at the Jacqueline Onassis School at
the American Ballet Theater was offered a position at the Dance Theatre of
Harlem.

She is
thankful for her opportunities, new found fame and the ability to escape a troubled
past.

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